Steve McIntosh Report Blog

Election office needs help

by Steve McIntosh,posted Dec 28 2012 12:58AM

The reason election results came out several hours late last fall is simple: the Sedgwick County Election office was overwhelmed. The vote counters had neither the personnel nor the expertise to make it happen.

The Kansas Secretary of State’s office investigated after many complaints. They found the Sedgwick County office is grossly under-staffed with three full-time and six part-time workers. Johnson County has 15 full-time and four part-time workers.
The investigation also found workers didn’t know how to use the computer software.
Sedgwick County’s Election office has been downsized in recent years to save money.
It seems obvious to me it was downsized to the point of incompetence. This is unacceptable.
If Election Commissioner Tabitha Lehman is retained in that position, she needs help … more people and intensive computer training.
Going cheap has its drawbacks. And when political stinginess impacts the media’s ability to inform the public in a timely manner, the media and the public will object … loudly and passionately.
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